Message from Chair

Prof. Michael Dudley, Chair

Welcome to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), in the College
of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University.

The MSE Dept. at Stony Brook University was created in the 1960’s. The department
offers one of the nation's leading materials science and engineering graduate programs,
as well as a leading undergraduate program in Engineering Science and more recently
undergraduate and graduate programs in Chemical and Molecular Engineering. Students
work closely with award-winning professors who are at the cutting edge of their fields in these programs that all provide an
excellent balance between theoretical and practical knowledge. Stony Brook students,
researchers, and professors also have access to the considerable resources at Brookhaven
National Laboratory including the National Synchrotron Light Source (II) and the Center
for Functional Nanomaterials.

The research programs of the MSE department are concerned with the scientific and
engineering aspects of the structure, properties, synthesis/processing/manufacturing
and application of materials. These programs include research into the development
of novel materials and processes, understanding of the behavior of existing materials,
and the selection of materials to design functional components. By nature, our research
programs are interdisciplinary and focus on all types of materials—biomaterials, ceramics,
electronic materials, glasses, metals, minerals and polymers—and their composites.
Our faculty and students are focused on researching the infinitesimally small with
a view to achieving globally significant breakthroughs, working at the atomic and
molecular levels to create the microscopic devices and systems essential for cutting-edge
energy storage, catalysis, solar energy production, coating technologies, sensing
technologies, power electronics, energy efficient lighting, green materials processing,
information technology and medicine. Our programs often involve multi-investigators
and close collaboration with other disciplines. In addition, our research is being
increasingly facilitated by advanced computational materials science also being conducted
in the department.

In the department's Engineering Science undergraduate program students can choose to specialize in biomedical engineering, mechanical and manufacturing
engineering, electrical engineering, materials science and engineering, civil and
environmental engineering, nanoscale engineering, and engineering management. Reflecting
the breadth and variety of topics falling within the domain of engineering science,
this program also offers several minors that afford undergraduate students the opportunity
to enhance their engineering or science studies with knowledge in a specific area.

The department’s Chemical and Molecular Engineering undergraduate program emphasizes
processes and effects that occur at the molecular level.The program teaches the molecular
basis of chemical phenomena, control, and operations. The training in this program
provides a rigorous background in the basic sciences in combination with core chemical
engineering courses while emphasizing teamwork, creativity and ethics. Students are
allowed to specialize in select areas of Chemical Engineering such as Pharmacology,
Polymer Science and Tissue Engineering.

Graduate students conduct research in state-of-the-art facilities, advancing current understanding in fields such as polymers, optics, nanotechnology,
and photonics. The program prepares students for careers in research, development,
operations, sales, manufacturing, academia, and management.

The undergraduate programs in the Department of MSE are accredited by the Engineering
Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org/.

MSE ranking

The Stony Brook University Materials Science and Engineering Department was ranked
among top 25 Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Departments in the Nation according
to the most recently released National Research Council (NRC) assessment. The 2010
NRC Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States also
highlights our Department as the highest overall ranked MSE Department in the New
York State. The chart showing the overall scores for various Universities can be found here.